405- Daily French Expressions: Faire un prix: to pay less

Non, c’est un peu fort de chocolat cette histoire-là: no, that’s going a bit too bar this story!
We also say “fort de café”. When something is full of chocolate, we use “en” and not “de”: le gâteau est fort en chocolat.

407- Daily French Expressions: Juillettiste, Aoûtien: July and August holiday maker (vacationer)

408- Daily French Expressions: Merci: means “no”!

– Tu en veux d’autres? – Do you want some more?
– Merci, ça ira! – No, thank you, I am fine!
You can say “no” with your head when you say “merci”.

409- Daily French Expressions: kess tu fous? what are you doing?

“Kess tu fous” is the abbreviation of “qu’est-ce que tu fous?”, we don’t often say “qu’est-ce que” but just the beginning and we write is this way “kess” as you can see in Google.fr. “Fous” is the verb “foutre” instead of faire, this verb is colloquial, sometimes rude but not here.

410- Daily French Expressions: une livre: a pound

You know that we use gramme in France but on a market and when you want to buy some things loose, you may have to use the word “livre” instead. Une demi-livre de beurre = 250g and une livre = 500g. (don’t mix the word with “le livre” which masculine for book).

411- Daily French Expressions: Une douzaine: a dozen

Like in many countries, we also use the word “douzaine” for some products: eggs and also oysters: huîtres. So you can say une demi-douzaine or une douzaine d’oeufs.

412- Daily French Expressions: un petit bobo: a sore, a cut

Bobo is a child word, parents may ask: ça te fait bobo? does it hurt? and a kiss may solve the situation!

413- Daily French Expressions: se la péter: to show off

Comment il se la pète avec sa bagnole: lok how he shows off with his car!

414- Daily French Expressions: Prière de… : Please do… or don’t….

Prière de ne pas piétiner les pelouses: Please don’t walk on the grass! (Prière here means that we beg you to do something, piétiner means to trample).

415- Daily French Expressions: être baba: to be astonished!

Nooon, j’en suis baba: nooo, I am dumbfounded! And for an event in the past, we usually say: j’en suis resté baba!

420- Daily French Expressions: Bizutage: Hazing of new students

Le bizutage is forbidden in France, the verb is “bizuter”, however many students think it is just a tradition even when it is sexually explicit.

421- Daily French Expressions: des biftons: bank notes (slang)

Bifton is a word from Slang French with the meaning of bank notes with a high value.
La police a trouvé chez lui, une valise pleine de biftons: Police found at his home a suitcase full of bank notes!

422- Daily French Expressions: Une brique: One million

Une brique is a brick wall, but the slang meaning is one million euros, dollars…

422 – Daily French Expression: un péché mignon: a weakness

Un péché mignon: a weakness. Litteraly: a sweet sin! something you know is not necessary good for you but you can’t resist, like “le chocolat est mon péché mignon” and you? do you have un péché mignon?

424 – Daily French Expression: les binocles, les lorgnons: glasses

Binocle is an old word and Lorgnons comes from the verb Lorgner: to ogle, to have an eye.

426 – Daily French Expression: Un bogosse: a Good-Looker

The word Bogosse comes from Bo and gosse, bo is in fact Beau (good looking) and gosse is kid, young man. For a girl we would say: une belle gosse!

427 – Daily French Expression: ça me fait une belle jambe: a fat lot of good that does me

We use this expression: ça me fait une belle jambe, when someone tells you something that it is not going to be of any help.
– I can’t repair this computer!
– what a shame, the neighbour has been able to do it.
– ça me fait une belle jambe!

428 – Daily French Expression: un Bouquin: a book

This French words comes from the English. Tu as vu mes bouquins? Have you seen my books?

429 – Daily French Expression: Le Petit Coin: the smallest room

Un coin is a corner, but also a spot, a place and somewhere: Je cherche un bon coin pour les vacances: I am looking for a good place for holidays. Dans un coin de la maison: somewhere in the house.

431 – Daily French Expression: Jeter un froid: to cast a chill

432 – Daily French Expression: Y a pas l’feu: we are not in a hurry

Y a pas l’feu or Il n’y a pas le feu means no hurry (literally: there is no fire), we have time. Grouiller here means to hurry, to move on: tu te grouilles? hurry up!

433 – Daily French Expression: se lever du pied gauche: to be in a bad mood

Se lever di pied gauche when someone is not in a good mood after waking up. Qu’est-ce qui te prend? tu t’es levé du pied gauche ou quoi? What’s wrong with you, did you get out of your bed on the wrong side?

434 – Daily French Expression: Tu me fais suer: you annoy me, you are a pain in the neck

Tu me fais suer is not rude, you can use this expression when someone is annoying you and you want him to leave you alone.

436 – Daily French Expression: une bestiole: an insect, an animal

Well, tout savoir sur le bout des doigts is not to cheat, but is to know something by heart (savoir par coeur): je connais ma leçon sur le bout des doigts: I know my lesson by heart (there is a lesson about the difference between savoir and connaître)

438 – Daily French Expression: avoir quelqu’un: to have, to fool

Here avoir means to get, je t’aurai is I will get you. Avoir also means to fool, J’ai été eu: I have been had and se faire avoir is to be had, je me suis fais avoir: I have been had (To make fun, some say: je me suis fait eu, but it is not correct French).

439 – Daily French Expression: C’est pas du jeu: it is not fair

This expression is used when someone does something that it is not following the rules, when something is not fair. Tu triches, c’est pas du jeu: you are cheating, it is not fair!

To give a hard time, il m’en a fait voir de toutes les couleurs: he gave me a hard time. And the expression “en voir de toutes les couleurs” is ‘to have a hard time’ (because of someone), j’en ai vu de toutes les couleurs: I had a hard time.

451 – Daily French Expression: Puer du bec: to have bad breath

This expression is colloquial. Le bec is the beak (here for mouth) and puer is to stink. We also say: avoir mauvaise haleine.

469- Daily French Expression: ça vaut le coup: It’s worth it.

470- Daily French Expression: comme des petits pains: like hot cakes

471- Daily French Expression: j’en peux plus: I am exhausted

The correct sentence is: je n’en peux plus, but we don’t say the first part of the negation when we speak. Also, we don’t say the final S of plus, just plu, because here it is the second part of the negation (the meaning is not more).

484- Daily French Expression: Casse-pieds: a pain in the neck

No entrance or Banned for pain in the neck people!

485- Daily French Expression: Faut pas croire: make no mistake!

we use the expression “faut pas croire” when someone wants to do something that seems the opposite of other may think.
Faut pas croire, j’ai beaucoup travaillé: Contrary to what you may think, I worked a lot!
There are many food in your plate and nobody believes you may end up, so you can say: faut pas croire, je vais tout finir!
It is the abbreviation of: il ne faut pas croire.

(this expression is different from “il ne faut pas croire que…”: you must not believe…)